A place for former members of Sukyo Mahikari, and members who are considering leaving Mahikari, to share information and discuss issues

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Building Mahikari's world shrine~using the Bible

Okada doesn't mention why his Creator God so persistently demands a shrine. Instead, he says, "I've been ordered by God" and "I've made a covenant with God", and brings in the story of building a temple in the old testament. The following quote is from Okada's teachings in "Dai-seishu".

- - - - Above all else, I have the great mission of building Suza. The Bible speaks of Moses and the building of a temple, that is, Moses' covenant with God to build the Temple. I feel that my situation is very similar to that of Moses.

- - - - (omitted) - - - The Israelites were suffering greatly under the oppressive rule of the Egyptians. Because God took pity on the Israelites, He allowed Moses to rise up as a great leader. After the exodus, when the people were feeling a sense of deliverance, Jehovah commanded Moses to build the temple.

Thus, the weight of God's expectation fell upon Moses. Although he was able to successfully lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he was not able to construct the temple. Later, God commanded David to build the temple as quickly as possible. David, however, spent all his time and money in wars to unify Israel. And even if he had built the temple, the situation was such that there was no knowing if the temple would be destroyed in the wars. So he never reached the point where he was able to start building the temple.

Finally, David's son Solomon came to possess great wealth and power. As he was also very wise, God placed His trust in him. It was Solomon who built the temple as commanded by God.

- - - -(omitted) - - - - -

So, I have something that I want to ask of you. I have been given the divine command to build Suza. I have made a covenant with God. And because I have made that covenant, I must, no matter what happens, fulfil it. - - - - "Daiseishu" - English version p218-219 [Note1]

I mentioned briefly particular teachings of Okada's in the [Note 2] of "Okada said, 'The Mecca of the world is Ise' (01/2011~ Japanese, 03/2011~ English). Here are some actual words in Mahikari magazines. No.190 has the title "Building a shrine and the covenant with God in the era of Moses" and No.240, "The history of building a shrine seen in the Bible". [Note2]

No.190, p16-17:

The Israelites, under the pressure of Egypt, went through extreme hardships. They were forced to live the life of slaves. God finally pitied them and, making Moses rise up, lead their exodus.

When Moses escaped to Israel and felt relieved at last, Jehovah appeared in front of Moses and ordered him to, what is known, 'build a shrine'.

He said, "I let you, the Israelites, escape from Egypt and have supported you so that you would build a shrine. Now that you escaped, I order you, the Israelites, to build a shrine in return from now on. You must build a shrine for Me." Please read the Bible for details. Suffering persecution, caught between Egypt and Rome as known, Moses was busy leading the Israelites to escape to Israel. His son, David, engaged himself in war after war, as you know. - - - (omitted) - - -

Therefore, even though God said to David, "This time, you do it" as the Bible tells, he was unable to build the shrine. There was no money for that because of the expenses of the wars and there was a worry that even if it was built, it would soon be destroyed in the wars. After all, he couldn't build the shrine in his life time.

In the era of Solomon, Moses handed the matter to him. God also visited him to urge him to build the shrine for Him. This is also written in details in the Bible.

Namely, God said, "so far I made the exodus of the Israelites happen, appointing Moses as the commander, and I saved you, the Israelites. The purpose of my saving you was to have you build a shrine for Sun God. I also protected you patiently while David was engaged in wars, in the tents - - - the tents in the fort. My purpose is to have a shrine for Sun God built in the western world." Thus, He revealed the precise reason and the cause. Due to such a relationship, it reached the point that they had to humbly build the shrine.

No.240, p20:

When Moses succeeded in escaping to Israel under the divine guidance and felt relieved, Jehovah came to him and ordered him to build a shrine. I omit the details, but in short, He ordered him to build a shrine for Jehovah.

However, Moses didn't have time to build a shrine. He was busy, suffering persecution, caught between Egypt and Rome, and at the same time, he had to lead the Israelites out.

After that, David engaged in war after war to unify Israel, and he couldn't build a shrine in his life time.

So, David told Solomon to build a shrine. God also came to Solomon to urge him to build a shrine. He told him that the purpose of Him having rescued the Israelites with Moses as the commander was, in short, to have a shrine built for Sun God.

◆I point out, to make sure, that the expressions such as "his (Moses') son, David", "In the era of Solomon, Moses handed the matter to him" and "suffering persecution, caught between Egypt and Rome" are what Okada said in the magazines. They show how unreliable what Okada says is. Can "God's representative on earth" (though it is self-proclaimed) be so irresponsible? Okada claimed that his words were God's words and taught that people have to repeat his every word and phrase as they are. What a nonsense! [Note3]

◆Please read the Bible for details. - - - as the Bible tells - - - , this is also written in details in the Bible, etc. . . .

These types of the phrases are one of Okada's narration techniques. How many Mahikari followers actually read the Bible after hearing him say these? Having the idea implanted in their minds that what Okada said was probably correct because he was "God's representative on earth" and "the savior (sukuinushi-sama)", they assumed that the Bible told those things. It probably never occurred to them to check other outside resources and see whether what Okada was saying was correct and relevant, or not. Okada warned them not to doubt his words and teachings. Also one may think vaguely, "Ah, yeah . . . there was a story of building a temple in the old testament, wasn't there . . . ". No knowledge or a smattering of something, a Bible story in this case, easily lets one succumb to a narration technique like these phrases.

Okada, borrowing a Bible story, emphasises 'God having demanded a shrine'. In other words, Okada's "Creator God of heaven and earth" has had such a strong obsession with a shrine being built. The scenario Okada implies here is; God in the Bible is the Creator God. My god is the Creator God, too. It's the same God. Therefore, the demand for His shrine to be built continues. If you listen to Okada's statements only, you'll be given the impression that the demand of Okada's god for the shrine to be built is substantiated by the Bible story.

However, what if there actually is not a story in the Bible that says that God kept demanding so persistently for a shrine to be built for such a long time, from Moses, to David and Solomon? It means that Okada is telling lies, including the 'the Bible tells in details' type of sayings. Okada, again, is telling lies without hesitation. It means more: those things such as "God has demanded that I build a shrine", "the covenant between me and God", "the great mission to build Suza ( the shrine for Su-god)" "I must, no matter what happens, fulfil it" and so on, are his made-up stories, too, even though they may sound grave. No wonder the promises on God's side have never been realised. [Note4]

The internet site "Banning building a temple . . . ." states that there are no spots in the Bible which tell that God demanded that people build a temple for Him. I asked a person who was qualified to be a pastor. He said the same thing, too.

The covenant which Moses made with God in the Bible seems to be also called the Sinai covenant, including the ten commandments. But it doesn't have a demand for a temple to be built. What God told Moses to build is called a Tabernacle or something like that, which was originally a portable holy place for nomadic people where offering of animals was conducted. In the story of 'wandering in the wilderness', the tabernacle was made.

◆God commanded David to build a shrine as quickly as possible.

According to the Bible, David tried to build a temple, but it wasn't because God urged him to do so. On the contrary, God told David not to build a temple because he had spilt much blood in wars. (Books of Chronicles, 22-8). Also, God asked David "Are you going to build a house for me to dwell in?" (Samuel II, 7-5) It's a strange question if God urged and ordered him to build a temple. In other words, Okada was wrong to tell that according to the Bible God commanded David to build a shrine as quickly as possible. The Bible tells that God forbade him to build a temple. It also tells, instead of having no money for the shrine because of the expenses for the wars, that David was furnished with construction materials and money. (Books of Chronicles, 22-14)

There seem to be prophecies and instructions like 'your child will build a temple.' and 'if you build a temple, do it in this way.' But the Bible doesn't describe that God kept consistently demanding for a shrine to be built, importunately demanding over and over again, to Moses, David and Solomon as Okada teaches.

It seems to be Christianity's viewpoint that there are no spots, anywhere in the Bible, which tell that God ordered David or Solomon to build a temple. Also someone mentions that they can say that Christianity was born from the destruction of the temple and denial of a temple. [Note7] That is, Christians do not place value on a temple - a physical building.

◆Build a shrine. You must build a shrine for me. Build a shrine for Jehovah.

So, these God's demands are not seen in the Bible. That means; Okada is teaching lies. Or, would he say that the writers and editors of the Bible didn't know, or forgot to write down, such an important subject (though Okada knows it)? Okada says that the Bible's God demanded, ordered, urged the people to build a shrine for Him. Such things are not in the Bible. There are, instead, phrases as God's words, like Samuel II, 7-5 (above) and 7-7 (" . . . Did I speak a word with any tribes of Israel . . . saying,"why have you not built me a house of cedar?"). How could it be explained away?

◆According to Okada, God told the Israelites that the purpose (or the reason) He made them escape from Egypt was to make them build a shrine, a shrine for Jehovah. Later, "a shrine for Jehovah" was, unnoticed, replaced with "a shrine for Sun God". So, God Jehovah is Sun God, according to Okada. By the way, in "Commentary on Kamimuki Sanji" (p453), he says, " . . . . Yahweh, that is, the branch god of Sun-God." [Note8]

God in the Bible doesn't demand or urge for a temple. He doesn't say, "Build a temple." "Build one as quickly as possible." or "You must build a shrine for me." Therefore, Okada's teaching that God told the Israelites that He had saved them with a purpose ( or 'a reason' ), and that He wanted them to build a shrine for Jehovah (Yahweh) is probably another set of Okada's delusional ideas. He says more. God's purpose of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt was to make them build a shrine for Sun God in the western world. This can be seen as another absurd statement of Okada's.

Did Okada try to connect the world of the Bible and his world of Mahikari by force and distortion? He may have thought: the world of the Bible centres Israel. If I say that this is for the western world, I'll have the eastern world to myself. But If the world is divided into the west and the east, half and half, the power of my world will be half. I must insist on the superiority of my Mahikari world. One of his explanations to achieve Mahikari's superiority is 'Japan has the main family lineage, Jews are the branch family lineage, and Jehovah is the god of the branch family lineage.' [Note8] Then, his own Mahikari world becomes the centre (as the primary), and the Bible's western world becomes secondary. But Okada's insistence on 'Japan the main family, Jews the branch family' is groundless and a distortion. It cannot be powerful enough to destroy the Jewish concept of 'one nation, one God and one temple'.

◆ I feel that my situation is very similar to that of Moses. ("Daiseishu" English version, p218)

The truth is rather 'he made it look similar' than 'it is similar'. In order to achieve his own desire of building a Mahikari shrine, he borrowed fragmentally pieces of stories from the Bible and furthermore changed them to versions that suit his own claims. Thus, his versions look as if they are backed up by the Bible. This can be also regarded as his narrative technique. I'd like to remind you of his claims about 'Mu Continent', too. [Note9]

Israelite archaeologists, Finkelstein and Silberman recently published a book "The Bible Unearthed". [Note10] They investigate the Bible's narrations with the latest archaeological evidence and what they say is quite persuasive. There seems to be no evidence that the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, and its following event, the wandering in the wilderness, actually took place, and the view that they didn't actually happen seems well-grounded. The authors' view is that the stories are fictional, written with political and religious purposes.

If the exodus wasn't an actual event, the whole teachings of Okada, whichever part is picked up, have no piece of truth, and can be confirmed perfectly as products of his own delusions. Another teaching of his - that Moses came to Japan and died in Japan, of course, will become completely rootless, though it is a groundless claim from the beginning anyway. The same applies to the Manna pot. [Note11]

Even if the exodus story itself is a fiction, some people would still like to believe that a similar event, though on a small scale, took place; people who were slaves, left Egypt in small groups and moved to another place. Even in that case, Okada's teaching that God revealed that He had saved the Israelites from Egypt, making Moses the commander, for the purpose of getting them to build His shrine, sounds quite awkward and hard to fit into the situation.

In any case, referring to the story of the exodus in the Bible, Okada added, on his own authority, the purpose of God having saved the Israelites. Thus, he made it look as if it had been God's will from ancient times to have a shrine built for Him, and he claimed that he also had received the order to build a shrine from God. This can be seen as an elaborate camouflage to hide his own desire. Also, borrowing the concept of 'the covenant between God and the Israelites' in the Bible, he used the phrase 'the covenant between me and God'. Taking the story in the Bible as a precedent, he made his claim sound more acceptable to the followers, who would think that this time God came to him and made a contract with him.

Unlike what Okada teaches, there are no such stories in the Bible as God demanding persistently for a shrine, or God revealing that His clear reason for making the Israelites escape from Egypt was to make them build a shrine for Him, a shrine for Sun God in the western world. 'The covenant between God and the Israelites' doesn't have a command to build a temple on its list. Okada gives his followers false information, while saying, with full confidence, "It is written in the Bible," etc..

Thus, he managed to make his followers believe that building Suza (Mahikari's world shrine)was a demand from the Creator God and that the followers must act to fulfil that demand (that is, to make donations for that). After his death, Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan, his original organisation, and Sukyo Mahikari, a spin-off sect from SMBK, continued to use the methods he had left behind and urged their followers to make desperate donations. In this way the two Suzas were completed. People should know that those Suzas originated from the teachings of Okada, who, without hesitation, taught lies and made-up stories. Even though Okada and the sects following him advocate the "divine and spiritual meanings" of the world shrine, those meanings are only for the world of Mahikari, which was fabricated by Okada with his teachings of pseudo-truth after all. They can be called a house of cards from the viewpoint of the real world.

3 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Are we to understand that their God only recognises the SMBK Suza as his mistress runs the breakdaway Mahakari sect which lost is credibility in the Japanese Courts. She certainly wasnt very obedient now was she??? Big ego problem obviously.

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